Swapped my free AV for a paid one after getting hit with ransomware

Used Windows Defender for years thinking it was good enough. Then last month a dodgy PDF locked up all my project files for my freelance work. $60 a year for Malwarebytes feels cheap now compared to losing 3 days of work. Anyone else have a scare that finally made them pay for protection?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_webb22h ago

@eva_adams68 makes a solid point about backups being the real safety net here.

eva_adams6823h ago

Did you at least get your files back or were they totally cooked? I feel your pain on the lost work, I had a crypto locker wipe out a whole batch of family photos once and that still stings. My cheap self learned the hard way too after clicking a fake invoice link that locked up my tax documents right before April 15.

stellachen7h ago

I read somewhere that sometimes you can get the files back if you don't pay the ransom and wait it out. Something about how some ransomware groups just give up after a while if nobody pays, or the decryption keys leak online later. That's not much comfort though when you're sitting there watching your photos disappear. The fake invoice thing is so common now, it's scary how real those emails look. I had a client at work tell me her whole practice management system got locked up from a link that looked like it came from a supplier she used for years.